


Two Weeks

by RubyofRaven



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Ableist Language, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Daddy Issues, Descendants 3 Spoilers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fog, Friendship, Gen, Harry Hook Angst, Hugs, Huma - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inappropriate Humor, Leader Uma (Disney), Mental Anguish, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Pirate Uma (Disney), Possessive Behavior, Possessive Harry Hook, Possessive Uma (Disney), Post-Descendants 2, Protective Harry, Protective Mal (Disney), Protective Uma (Disney), Protectiveness, Sarcasm, Sleepy Cuddles, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Dependency Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25736203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyofRaven/pseuds/RubyofRaven
Summary: “The isle is gone,” a frantic Fairy Godmother informs King Ben over a rushed phone call, having awoken to find the isle, contained within its barrier, completely obscured by some kind of fog. ‘It just disappeared overnight,” she says. “This has never happened in the almost twenty years since the isle’s creation."“It’s not from any magic I can detect,” she continues. “I don’t know what it is. I’m worried this may be the start of something bad.”
Relationships: Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Harry Hook & Uma, Harry Hook/Uma
Comments: 16
Kudos: 77





	Two Weeks

“The isle is gone,” a frantic Fairy Godmother informs King Ben over a rushed phone call, having awoken to find the isle, contained within its barrier, completely obscured by some kind of fog. ‘It just disappeared overnight,” she says. “This has never happened in the almost twenty years since the isle’s creation."

“It’s not from any magic I can detect,” she continues. “I don’t know what it is. I’m worried this may be the start of something bad.”

“I’m sure it's probably nothing,” the boy-king tries to reassure her, ever the outward optimist, even while internally spiraling from his own worried thoughts. It’d only been two weeks since his first trip to the isle. The trip that led to his capture and the eventual disastrous event that was his cotillion, brought about by one irate daughter of a sea witch – whom there hadn’t been any word about since her escape that fateful night. 

“Look,” Ben says, after patiently waiting through another bout of Fairy Godmother’s special brand of worrying. Trying to dampen his own internal panic, he says, “I’ll send Mal and the other three original VKs over to the isle this afternoon to check it out. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

This seems to set her mind at ease, even though she insists he sends guards with them. He declines, and if he fails to mention his own plan to accompany the VKs to the isle while simultaneously clearing his schedule (which resigns him to dealing with the fallout of the bad PR likely to run wild while he’s away as the rest of the kingdom comes to discover the lack of one Isle of the Lost), then that’s his prerogative. 

It doesn’t take long after that to rally Mal and the three other VKs to ride to the barrier dressed once more in the isle style.

They park the limo on the bridge right in front of the barrier, unsure if it’d be wise to drive the vehicle somewhere that may no longer be there as falling to an early death is not something on any of their life goals lists.

“Alright, remember the plan,” Mal says, stepping up to the barrier in front of the group.

Jay scoffs. “What plan? We didn’t come up with any plan, did we?” He looks to the others, who appear just as confused, for confirmation.

The half fae rolls her eyes as she turns around to face the other four teenagers.

“Yes. I mean, we don’t have a _plan_ , but the bare minimum of any plan,” she says with a pointed look, “is to remember to _not_ let Ben out of our sight.” The three other VKs look away guiltily as Mal turns her attention onto her boyfriend.

“And you, mister,” she tells him, grabbing his hand, “are to stay close to my side no matter what. I won’t have you being taken captive by Uma or Harry, or whoever else. You got it?”

“Got it,” the brunet says, smitten by her over protectiveness.

Mal takes a deep breath, turning towards the isle once more with the clicker to open the barrier ready to go. The remaining members of the core four moved to fall in line behind her. “All right. Here we go.”

The barrier opens for them, the smell of smoke wafting out, curling around them as they step through onto the other side of the bridge.

“What-?” Mal starts to ask at the sight that greets them.

“Holy shit,” Jay breathes out as Carlos huddles closer to him, looking around with wide eyes.

“Oh my apples!” Evie says, fanning herself frantically with her hands, tears in her eyes.

A sigh to the group’s right startles them. Their heads quickly turn towards the sound to be met by the sight of one teal haired sea witch. She’s pointedly looking out at the state of the isle rather than the gathered group of teens beside her.

“Uma?” Mal asks in disbelief. “Where did you come from? Aren’t you supposed to be locked outside the barrier?”

The pirate captain rolls her eyes, pointing over her shoulder. “You left the door open.” She drops her hand as she turns to address the other VKs, plus Ben, “And, before you ask, _I’m_ not responsible for this.”

Jay scoffs and steps forward. Carlos follows behind him, unwilling to leave his side. “Yeah. Like we believe that.”

Uma crosses her arms, leaning back. A humorless chuckle escapes her. “Oh, yeah right. Did you think I can just bippity-boppity-whatever to this side of the barrier and back whenever I feel like it?” She shakes her head, laughing once more. “I’ve been gone for two weeks and this is what happens,” she says, gesturing to the smoke covered isle. “Did you think I wanted this?”

“Alright, alright.” Ben steps forward, ever the peacemaker. “Let’s all just calm down-”

“Hello, darlings,” comes an accented voice. Hook gleaming in the weak light, manic grin stretching, eyeliner smudged into a crazed racoon mask, ash smudged cheeks and forehead, the smoke parts as an artfully deranged figure walks forward. “Thought that’d get yer attention.” Harry Hook stands in the center of the bridge as the smoke continues to dissipate, exiting through the still ajar portion of the barrier. The surrounding huts and buildings that used to make up the isle can be more clearly seen as the air clears. The structures lay in burnt ruins with fires still burning in patches, both nearby and in the distance. 

Mal steps forward, fists clenched, teeth gnashing. “What did you do?”

The brunet looks behind him in an overexaggerated manner. “Who?” He turns back to them, delighted grin in place as his hands, hook and all, come up to his chest in flattery. “Me?” He giggles.

“Harry!” Uma says warningly, as she used to only two weeks ago. His eyes finally seem to land on her, his manic blue gaze taking in her form hungrily and full of curious disbelief.

“Uma?” His head tilts as he says her name, but it's a question with an undertone of suspicion rather than the worshipful plea she’s used to. Her eyes burn at the implications of such a tone rather than at the smoke in the air.

“Harry.” Her gaze is assessing, noting his unhinged appearance, his lack of crew - _Where are Gil, Jonas, all the others?_ She walks closer to him, projecting a confidence she no longer feels since her failure at the cotillion. 

“Uma,” he says again, delighted, twisting his handsome face into a vicious grin. “Is tha’ you?”

She finds herself smiling with mirth she doesn’t truly feel, falling back into habits that feel like forever ago and only just yesterday. “Who else?” Her hands are on her hips now and she’s standing only a step away from him, head held high as she looks him over more closely. The makeup around his eyes does a great job at hiding the deep shadows from too many sleepless nights - indicators of the night terrors she knows plague him. 

_I shouldn’t have left him alone_ , she thinks.

“Uma!” he crows gleefully, quickly moving to invade her space. He hesitates at the last minute, hand raised to caress her face. His manic grin cracks just the slightest bit and his eyebrows furrow as he holds himself still, internally debating something, working out a problem she can’t see.

She ends the debate for him. “I’m here, Harry,” she says, leaning her face into his hand, letting his thumb stroke over her cheek as he stares at her in amazement. “I’m real.” 

_I’m not in your head_ , goes unspoken, but heard all the same as a genuine smile splits his face. Life sparks in his eyes that -she’s ashamed to admit- she didn’t notice were more dull than usual up until this point.

_She’s been away too long_ , she thinks.

“Uma,” he breathes like a prayer, his eyes closing as he brings their foreheads to rest against each other, his other arm coming around her waist to pull her closer.

She lets herself bask in the attention, her own hands come to rest on either side of his face, smearing kohl and ash everywhere, checking for familiarity in his jawline and cheekbones. “I’m here. I’m here. And I’m not leaving you again.” _Never again._

A dreamy sigh and then a vaguely feminine cough comes from behind them, effectively ruining whatever moment they might have been having. 

Uma huffs in frustration, rolling her eyes as she looks over her shoulder at the purple haired half fae. Her hands absentmindedly go to Harry’s hair, pulling his face possessively into the junction of her neck and shoulder. She only vaguely registers Harry making a pleased murmuring at the new position, his hands coming up to clutch at her leather clad shoulders as he sags against her. “Problem, dragon-breathe?”

Mal smiles that sugary-sweet, mocking smile of hers, hands on her hips. “None at all. Why would there be a problem with the isle suddenly becoming a world of fire and ash and the only one left standing seems to be your deranged boyfriend?”

At the word boyfriend, Uma feels herself unconsciously jerk back from Harry, but she fails to let go of said boy. “He’s not my-” Harry cuts off her protest with a displeased whimper at the sudden movement backwards, burying his face further into her neck as his feet stumble after her, hands tightening their grip on her clothing. She finds herself blushing and unwilling to look back at the other villain kids.

_Dammit, Harry._

“Harry,” this time it’s Ben, the well intentioned ruler, stepping forward. “What happened here?”

Harry doesn’t seem to hear the boy-king, too busy making soft, low noises too similar to a cat to describe as anything other than a purr, as he nuzzles his captain’s neck. 

Uma rolls her eyes once more, this time in exasperation. “Harry.”

“Hmm?” It’s like waking from a dream. His eyes are looking less manic and more hooded with sleep as he gazes up at her, head lifting a bit to lean on her shoulder. 

She finds herself having to swallow, her throat suddenly dry. “Harry, what happened?”

His eyes flit away from her, latching on to his hook, almost forgotten in his left hand. “Hmm?” He begins to drag his hook down her arm very carefully as he seems to contemplate things. “‘What’ what happened?”

She grabs the wrist of his hand holding his hook, stopping its gentle caress. “Harry,” blue eyes meet her steely gaze. “Don’t ‘what what’ me. You know what. Now tell us why this whole place looks like it got a bomb dropped on it.”

Her first mate stares at her, and it's a staring match -him daring her to look away, proving that she’s not the strong captain he knew from weeks ago, her daring him to step out of line and see what happens.

The manic pirate looks away first, heaving a great put about sigh as he pulls himself out of Uma’s grasp, casually stowing his hook on his belt as he does so. “Ugh!” He pouts, arms crossing as he stomps his foot childishly. “Yer no fun!” 

“Harry!”

He looks at her like a disgruntled two-year old (and Uma wonders why she strangely missed this). “Fine!” He scowls, his shoulders hitching upwards. “I may or may not have started an itsy-bitsy fire.”

“So this was your doing?!” Jay speaks up, angry tension stiffening his muscles as he steps forward, but Mal easily pushes him back while simultaneously bringing herself to the front of the group. 

The purple haired lady of the court scoffs and offers, “Oh ho, I think it was more than an itsy-bitsy, teenie-weenie fire, don’t you?”

The red-clad pirate snarls. “I had help!” He pointedly looks off to the side, hands gripping his forearms tightly. “Besides, it’s not like any of you lot were helpin’, leavin’ me here without me captain.”

“ _This_ is what happens after only two weeks-” Carlos’ unhelpful query is cut off by Evie with a swift elbow jab to the solar plexus, causing it to end in a wheeze instead.

Uma figures it’s high time she intervenes and ends this confrontation. “Harry,” his head snaps in her direction, bright blue eyes edged with red, “they didn’t know.” 

She takes a deep breath and forces herself not to look away in shame. “I’m the one who left you- left everyone on the isle. I’m the one who failed you. I’m the one who couldn’t come back to you to stop whatever this,” she gestures to the still burning isle at large, “is. I shouldn’t have left you. I should have known better.” She’s shaking her head, eyes dropping to look at the ground as they start to burn again, fighting back tears. “I know how you get. I shouldn’t have-”

Suddenly she’s being pulled against a warm, familiar chest that smells strongly of leather, rum, and ash. Uma finds herself burying her face in it, silently crying. She feels strong arms come up to wrap around her and a hand stroking her hair.

“Shhh, shhh, love. It’s not yer fault.” There’s a small smile in Harry’s voice as he echoes back to her, “Ye didn’t know.”

And she’s smiling, chuckling into his chest as she tries to regain her dignity. “You’re right, I didn’t know.” She wipes at her eyes as discreetly as she can as she pulls back, sniffling, embarrassed to show such weakness in front of her enemies, but not of showing it to Harry.

He's smiling down at her, eyes a clear blue now, not a hint of mania or anger remaining, looking at her like she’s still his entire world somehow, after all these days apart, after all the pain she put him through.

“But I’m sorry,” she finds herself saying.

And his smile freezes and breaks on that one little word, “ _sorry_.” That one little word no one on the isle dares utter in earnest to one another. There’s no “ _sorry_ ” on the isle.

And suddenly Harry’s on his knees, head buried in her stomach, arms wrapped around her waist as he cries and sobs and laughs hysterically into her midsection. And she knows everything’s going to be alright between them as she smiles and lets her hand run soothingly through his hair and her other hand holding the back of his head, a silent, _I won’t let you go, I’ve got you,_ if there ever was one.

“This, this is depressing,” Uma hears Jay say, followed by a grunt. “Ow.” She looks over her shoulder at the group of five to see Jay clutching at his abdomen with a self righteous looking Evie standing nearby.

“Not that this isn’t great and cathartic and all that,” Mal says, leading the group closer to stand surrounding the two pirates in a half-circle, “but we’re still no closer to finding answers to what happened here.” She looks disdainfully down at Harry, who’s emotional out-pouring hasn't slowed so much as it has become more muffled by him shoving his face further into Uma’s stomach. “So, Harry,” Mal adopts her sugary-sweet smile and a higher pitched tone as she lowers herself to crouch beside the distraught pirate. Uma narrows her eyes, the hand in Harry’s hair stilling just as he turns his head to the side to glare at the purple haired fae. Tear tracks have made an even bigger mess of his makeup with black and gray streaks running down his face. “If you want to keep Uma on this side of the barrier,” a red tinge abruptly bleeds into clear blue eyes as Harry growls at her and Uma’s hands tighten their grip on him as he makes to lunge at the smaller fae. 

“Mal,” Ben says in warning.

Mal ignores him, her voice only growing in mocking sweetness. “Then you need to tell us what has been going on in the weeks since we left.”

Harry is still seething, glaring at her as they stare each other down from their positions on the ground. After a long moment, Harry finally grits out, “I told you, I started the fires.”

“Why?” Her gaze is calculating.

The pirate laughs, long and hard, throwing his head back and dislodging Uma’s hand from his hair, leaving her to rest it on his shoulder, squeezing comfortingly. “ _Why?_ ” he mocks in a high pitched voice, sending himself into another round of laughter. “ _Why_ , she asks! _Why!_ ” He buries his head back into his captain’s clothed abdomen in a vain attempt to stifle his giggles.

Carlos cringes and huddles into Jay’s side as the deranged sounds of mirth continue while Ben edges closer to Mal, opening his mouth to say something, only to be stopped by a hand on his arm and a shake of the head from Evie. Mal stays where she is, close to the ground, staring at Harry.

Eventually, his giggles subside enough for him to turn his head once again in Mal’s direction. “Why?” He lets out a short bark of a laugh. “Because I wanted to, Mally.” He’s leaning towards her now, his grip on Uma’s waist loosening as he brings a hand up to mockingly brush some hair away from the half fae’s face. “You know what it’s like to spend weeks with voices in yer head?” His breath falls upon her face, his other arm leaving his captain’s waist so he can fully turn towards Mal, edging ever closer. “And terrors in yer bed?” he whispers in her ear. “And no one left to stop ye from giving into temptation.” 

He’s on top of her now, almost draped over her. Everyone is tense, but Mal makes no moves, no signals for her crew to move. Evie’s still holding Ben back, nails digging into his arm from her own fear. 

Harry leans back a little, grinning. “I let the isle burn because the world should burn without Uma.” He laughs again, high and light, falling backwards into Uma’s waiting arms. “Ma sea goddess!” he proclaims happily, staring up at the teal haired girl, arms awkwardly wrapping around her midsection again.

“Well that was helpful,” Jay murmurs.

“Mal,” Ben finally says, coming to crouch next to his soon to be queen. “Maybe we should-”

“Shh!” The purple haired girl doesn’t even look at him, choosing instead to crawl closer to the manic pirate, snapping her fingers twice to get Harry’s attention back on her. “Hey! We have a deal. You didn’t tell us everything.” 

The deranged young man doesn’t even bat an eye, only raising an eyebrow as a lazy smirk stretches across his face. “Oh yes I did, didn’t I?”

“No. So spill.”

He pulls his arms away from Uma and back in front of himself, using the palms of his hands to stifle his giggles, eyes gleaming in the pale sunlight. “You’re not gonna like it.”

Ben shakes his head, tired of waiting. “Where is everyone else on the isle?” he asks.

Mal doesn’t look like she’s heard him, too intently focused on Harry’s peculiar turn of phrase. “What am I not going to like?”

The red-clad pirate is shaking, clutching at his sides as he laughs.

“Uh, guys,” Carlos says, to no one and everyone, in a shaky voice attempting at light humor, “I think he’s broken.”

Jay turns to give his white-haired friend a disbelieving look. “No, really?” Carlos smiles sheepishly while the taller teen looks away with a shake of his head.

“I have had it with the laughter!” Mal suddenly snaps, grabbing the pirate by the shoulders and shaking him firmly. “Now tell me what I want to know! What am I not going to like?!”

Another bark of laughter greets her along with a thoroughly amused grin as she finally stops shaking the other teen. With his mirth filled gaze meeting hers, he finally states, “It’s not a ‘what’, it’s a ‘who’.”

Mal’s eyes are wide, searching, mind running wild with the possibilities. “A who?”

“Aye.” Harry leans back, slipping from her loosened grip back towards Uma, but the purple haired girl hardly registers this.

“What does he mean by that?” Ben, innocent Ben, is asking, a hand on her shoulder, drawing her towards him.

“I-,” she’s shaking her head, green eyes darting to the ground then up to meet Ben’s hazel ones. She opens her mouth to try and start again, but Carlos’ voice draws their attention.

“Um- guys? I think I know the who.” He’s pointing at one of the larger patches of fire nearest them, still a block away, where another person can be seen drawing closer, dancing amongst the blue flames. The fires almost seem to follow the black clad figure.

Jay’s eyes narrow as he starts to put a name to the face that’s slowly becoming clearer to them. “Is that-?”

Evie moves to stand beside the former thief, a hand on his shoulder as she shakes her head. “It can’t be.”

“I think it is,” Carlos adds, stepping closer to Jay as well.

Ben looks up towards the figure, eyebrows furrowing. “What? Who is it?”

His words are directed at Mal, but it’s Uma who answers him from where she’s come to sit on the ground, Harry’s body now sprawled across the dirt and his head resting in her lap. “Oh, it's bad.”

Harry giggles, staring adoringly up at Uma. “Bad bad.” He playfully bats at some of the loose teal strands of hair that fall over his face. “Only the baddest for _Uma~_!” he sings in wicked delight, clapping his hands together and descending into a small fit of giggling once more.

Ben swallows hard over a sudden lump in his throat. _That can’t be good_ , he thinks.

The figure is almost within proper speaking distance now, light blue hair sticking up, a sharp contrast to the dark pair of sunglasses that rest just above an ever widening grin.

Mal is suddenly standing, leaving Ben floundering in her absence and rushing to stand as well. She’s stepping towards the unnamed figure and Ben finds himself calling after her, ready to pull her back from possible danger, arm outstretched.

“Dad.” One simple word from Mal’s lips and Ben feels his whole body freeze, brain short-circuiting.

The figure finally comes to a rest before them, removing the shades to show off light, hazel eyes filled with mischief. “Miss me?”

The silence that follows is broken by Uma’s laughter. “Hades’ your daddy?!” she aims towards Mal before speaking the rest down to Harry, amusement evident. “This _is_ bad. Bad bad bad.” 

Harry’s responding grin would make one think Uma hung the moon with that reaction.

The rest of the VKs are in various states of shock at the reveal of Mal’s other parent.

“So Hades is-?” Jay starts.

“Mal is-?” Evie is looking for guidance from Carlos, eyes darting between him and her best friend.

The purple haired half fae ignores all their reactions, choosing to ask about the more pressing issue. “Dad? You did this?”

“Well,” Hades starts to leisurely pace, as if he can’t stay still for too long, “I don’t want to take all the credit. It was the Hook kid’s idea first.” He looks pointedly at said boy, who ignores him in favor of staring at Uma, before his eyes come back to meet Mal’s with a charming smile. “I just helped it along.”

“Why? Why burn the isle? It’s our home!”

Her father turns, letting his steps lead him closer to his daughter as he ticks off on his fingers, “First off, last time I checked, you don’t live here anymore. And, second, why not? Why not burn what Auradon gave us, what we didn’t even want in the first place, to the ground? And, thirdly, and this one’s important,” he pauses for dramatic effect, “if there’s no isle, no even barely livable prison, then someone will have to come and move us residents somewhere else, somewhere beyond the barrier.”

“I see,” Mal says with a narrowing of her eyes and a crossing of her arms. “And, let me guess, that someone is me?”

“Bingo, kiddo!” he says with a snap of his fingers and a quick point in her direction.

She scoffs. “Did you really have to do all this to get my attention? You ignored me since birth and now that I’ll be queen you suddenly want my attention?”

“What can I say,” he says with a self deprecating shrug. “I love a good wedding! Ya know, back when I used to get invited to them. Oh! Speaking of which, did you know,” he pivots on his heel, turning his attention to the young man only a step behind his daughter, “King Ben, that the isle doesn’t really do weddings? I mean, the closest we have to a preacher here is Frollo, and we isle folk don’t generally let him hang around young, blushing, virgin brides for obvious reasons, if ya know what I mean. So, outside of that-”

“Dad!”

The blue-haired man rolls his eyes. “Oh, come on, Mal, kiddo. Lighten up!” He shakes his head. “Besides, I didn’t abandon you, I abandoned your mother. And this little act,” he gestures behind him to the ruins, to the fires that seem to flare up as he gestures to them, “was all in an effort to get off this scum-bucket of an island. I mean,” he laughs humorlessly, “this is no place fit for a god!” His eyes turn hard as he shouts, “This is no place for me!”

“Here here!” says a drowsy Harry, pumping a fist in the air.

Hades gestures to the lounging pirate. “Thank you! See? He gets it.”

Mal remains unimpressed. “Just because Harry thinks it's a great idea to burn down the entirety of the isle doesn’t mean you should go ahead and do it.”

“What?” He saunters over to stand by said pirate and his captain, causing Harry to wearily sit up at his proximity. “And leave him to go ahead and do it on his own?” The lone adult comes to a crouch, gripping the boy’s shoulder in comradery with a disarming smile which Harry returns sleepily, all while under Uma’s distrustful glare. “Where’s the fun in that?” The ruler of the Underworld suddenly sobers. “Besides, this young man right here,” he gives Harry’s shoulder a little shake, “he was gonna find more destructive, more deadly ways of doing the job if I hadn’t stepped in.” Hades is standing up again and backing away as quickly as he’d come, Uma glaring daggers at him as she wraps her arms around her first-mate, who only blinks in tired confusion at what just happened.

“Really,” Hades continues, “you should be thanking me, daughter dear. I’m a _hero_.”

Mal opens her mouth to rebuke him, but Ben cuts her off, hands on her shoulders. “On behalf of the people of Auradon and the Isle, we thank you.” He offers a small, tight-lipped smile. “Now, if you could just tell us what happened to the rest of the population of the isle that you helped save, we could see about getting you all out of here.”

His girlfriend whirls on him, dislodging his hands. “Ben!” she hisses.

“Relax,” he whispers. _It’ll all work out_ , his kind eyes try to convey.

“Alright! That’s more like it! I knew I liked you, Benny-boy king,” his soon to be father-in-law says with a wink, spinning on his heel to start walking back in the direction he came from. 

There’s silence as the small group of teenagers exchange looks with each other, minus Harry, who’s watching the god’s departure with mild disinterest and looking like he’s about to fall asleep.

When he realizes no one is following him, the ruler of the underworld turns around with an exasperated sigh, gesturing towards the still burning ruins. “Well, come on!”

This kickstarts everyone into moving forward, Mal and Ben holding hands, Evie and Carlos linking arms with Jay, and Uma dragging Harry with a firm grip on his arm, having pulled him to his feet. 

Hades leads them through the wreckage, towards the opposite side of the isle, avoiding the pockets of still burning flames (“No! Curl up and Dye!” “It had a good run. There there.” Carlos pats a horrified Evie consolingly on the shoulder as they pass the partially on fire remains of the parlor.) and over some not-insignificant piles of rubble. Mal pointedly ignores the hand her father extends to her to help her over the debris. Meanwhile, Jay is assisting Evie and Carlos maneuver over the ruins while Uma and Harry lag behind (“Harry, wake up and move your ass!” “‘M' fine! Let me be!”), till they eventually come upon Uma’s old territory: the docks. 

“Ta da!” The blue-haired god turns towards the group, arms outstretched on either side of him. 

There’s silence from the VKs as they take in the still water, no boat in sight, all the docks either submerged or broken and half burnt.

“Umm…” Carlos is the first to break the silence. “I don’t see anyone. Are you sure we’re in the right place?”

Hades’ face drops, arms falling to his sides in a huff. “Well of course you- pirate-boy! Help me out here!”

“Hmm?” Harry’s head lifts from where it had been resting on Uma’s shoulder, body sagging against hers once more.

The sea witch rolls her eyes, shoving him off of her, causing him to sway dangerously. “Harry!” She grabs his face with both hands, steadying him.

The pirate blinks slowly at her. “‘Ello, Uma,” he says, a dopey smile on his face.

She rolls her eyes again, fighting a smile. “Hello, Harry.” Her pirate lets out a high giggle of delight, eyes closing once more, body sagging. “Harry!” She gives his head a quick shake, causing his eyes to re-open. “Harry, I need you to focus. Where is our crew?”

“Our… our crew?”

“Yes. Our crew. Where are they?”

“I,” he’s biting his bottom lip, eyebrows furrowing in confusion, “I don’t know.”

There’s an exasperated sigh from Hades, but Uma ignores him.

“Think, Harry, think. When did you last see Gil? The Lost Revenge?”

That seems to get a reaction. “Gil?” Blue eyes look a little more alert. 

“Yes.” Uma over annunciates, nodding her head slowly. “Gil. Where is he?”

Harry’s response comes faster this time. “He’s on the Lost Revenge.”

“Where?”

Here Harry’s forehead crinkles in thought. “I-“

“Towards the barrier!” Hades chimes in, sick of waiting. “Your crew set sail towards the barrier,” he gestures in said direction, “only letting the children of the isle set sail with them, seeking refuge from the fire their new captain decided to set.” Harry’s eyes shut at that, a troubled frown on his face, and Uma allows him to fall into her embrace once more and bury his head into her neck, seeking comfort. 

“And then the rest of the residents of the isle,” Hades continues, “were left scurrying for a vessel themselves. And this boy- this boy!” The god points with a grin at Harry once more. “This boy decided to set fire to almost all the ships in the harbor!” He doubles over in laughter.

The core four, along with Ben, stand in disbelief.

“My mom?” Evie asks, stepping forward, tears in her eyes.

Mal opens and closes her mouth a few times before managing to ask, “Are they all-?”

“Nope!” The ruler of the underworld says, straightening up, wiping away tears of mirth. “Gods, I wish they were, but-,” he shrugs, “what can you do?” 

“Then, what happened?” Ben asks.

“The other Hook happened.”

In the silence following this statement, Harry lets out a half strangled whimpering noise into his captain’s neck, stomping his foot and almost struggling out of Uma’s hold, but she holds fast, one arm holding the back of his head and the other around his shoulders.

“Harry, stop!” Uma commands in her best captain voice.

“What’s wrong with him?” Carlos not so subtly whispers to Jay. 

“I’ll tell you what’s wrong,” whispers a voice in his ear. The white haired boy nearly jumps a foot in the air at the sudden appearance of the blue-haired god at his side. Carlos grabs Jay’s arm, trying to melt into the other teen's side. “Since almost all other boats of significant size were on fire,” Hades continues in a louder voice, “and the boats of smaller size that weren’t immediately set on fire were quickly taken by those who lived nearest to the port, that only really left one option: the Jolly Roger.” At this, Harry moodily stomps again, Uma doing her best to quiet him. 

“And from there, things _really_ got interesting. I really wished we had something better than burnt popcorn here, but you make do, am I right?” Hades pauses like he expects laughter or at least a smile, instead, he’s only met with grave frowns and stern glares. “Geesh! Tough crowd. Anyways! What was I saying-? Oh, yes! So things got interesting, right? Pirate boy is doing his thing, dancing amongst the flames he’s making as the fires he starts spread throughout the rest of the isle, and I’m here at the docks watching the high and mighty villains of the isle run for dear life. It might be in my top five all time favorite moments of existence, no joke. So- there I was, watching the scene play out, all the villains storming the gangplank as the docks start burning and cracking behind them, when a fight breaks out amongst the pirates on the ship and the invading forces! People started getting thrown into the water, some dead, some alive, but not for long on account of the sharks.” Carlos starts to look a little green in the face at the description, leaning heavily into Jay’s side. Evie holds a hand to her mouth in horror, tears starting to run down her cheeks as she tries not to start sobbing. Mal pulls the blue-haired girl into a side hug, a wide eyed Ben forced to follow due to their interlocked hands. 

Noticing that the children aren’t quite as entertained by these events as he is - _What can he say? He’s a god. What were a few mortal lives to him?_ \- he decides to switch gears. “Hey- hey! Lighten up, kiddos! Your parents all survived the little scuffle -maybe a few cuts and bruises and smoke inhalation- but they’re fine! Well- all except Captain Hook himself, he went overboard and got- well.” Hades gives a helpless shrug before everyone’s attention gets pulled away from the storytelling and back to the lone son of the infamous pirate as Harry lets out a shrill cry, accompanied by severe thrashing, that then descends into a feral growl as he tries to dislodge himself from Uma. She keeps a vice like grip on him even amongst the violence of his actions, and then he lets out a groan that quickly ends in silence, his body going completely limp as he falls into unconsciousness.

Hades studies the scene with a quirked brow. “Well that’s new.”

“I told you there’s something wrong with him,” Carlos mutters.

“Something’s always been wrong with him,” Mal says, releasing herself from Evie and Ben and crossing over to where Uma is carefully lowering her first mate's body to the ground, a parody of the young sea witch doing so only an hour or so earlier on the other side of the isle. 

“Stay back, dragon-breath,” Uma tells the half fae as Mal moves to a kneel in front of them. 

“Uma, he needs help.”

“You and your daddy-dearest have done enough _helping_ for one day.” The sea witch turns her attention to Ben, who has followed Mal over. “All I want is for me and my crew, along with the other kids of the isle, to get out of here scot free, no repercussions for their actions here on the isle.” It’s clear who the later demand is meant to protect.

“Uma,“ Mal starts to say, not even knowing if she’s decided to condemn or exonerate a clearly unstable Harry Hook -who took away her _home_ , the place where she grew up. She has tears forming in her eyes the longer she pauses to dwell on it. Uma raises her chin high like she’s daring Mal to continue to deny her, and, for once, Mal isn’t quite sure she wants to meet that challenge.

In the end, it’s Evie who decides for her, having come to kneel alongside her. “Of course they’ll be free and forgiven. Right, Ben?”

Ben (Mal hadn’t even noticed him coming to kneel on her other side) readily agrees. “Of course. I think I understand-“

Uma’s eyes narrow as she cuts him off. “You don’t understand shit.”

“I understand,” he continues, not deterred, “that I haven’t taken into account how bad it gets on the isle, how it takes a toll on the mental health, and the overall health, of the children born here.” He laughs humorlessly, sending a quick glance in Mal’s direction. “You think it'd be obvious to me, but I’m still learning. So, if you would allow me the chance, Uma, I’d like to make it up to you.” He chances a glance down at the unconscious pirate in her lap. “And Harry.” His blue eyes come back up to meet brown. “And the rest of the kids who were unfairly imprisoned here.”

The sea witch arches her brow, managing to look regal and imposing even while covered in dirt and ash, and with the head of her first mate cradled in her lap. “I’m listening.”

**Author's Note:**

> **Extra dialogue from Hades:**
> 
> “Hey, look! Think of it this way. I helped package the kids and the other villains up for transport. Isn’t that great? Less stress on your end, am I right?”
> 
> \-------------------
> 
> Let’s be real here. Harry Hook and his probable mental instability portrayed in Descendants 2 probably wouldn’t fare too hot if Uma was gone from the isle for six months to a year (as we know from Descendants 3, Uma was not able to return to the isle after her failed plan in the previous movie). So, as opposed to Harry being relatively okay after being gone from Uma a whole year– I’m being a bit more realistic that things may not have been okay for him and that a year would be far too generous of a time span. Plus, my sister and I came up with a really funny idea for what this mental instability of Harry’s could lead to, but -of course- I had to go and be all more realistic because angst is pretty unavoidable when dealing with Harry and his general insanity, so… *shrugs* (It should be noted, though, that the portrayal of Harry and his likely mental disorder(s) are in no way meant to be realistic since I only know just a bit more than the bare minimum about psychology and the different disorders that can be had. -My sister is the one who is getting a minor in psychology, not me.)
> 
> The original prompt for this, that my sister and I came up with, was that Harry couldn’t last one week without Uma, so he sets fire to the isle, and Hades is there dancing amongst the flames and ashes with the song “Highway to Hell” playing, having become bros with Harry (who may or may not be carrying around the record machine for Hades to dance to).  
> Obviously, my actual take on this was a bit more angsty and realistic.
> 
> Also, for anyone who’s wondering, Smee survived that fight on the boat (because it’s important he survives for his two children that I just couldn’t leave fatherless).


End file.
